This page features brief excerpts of stories published by the mainstream
media and, less frequently, blogs, alternative media, and even obviously
biased sources. The excerpts are taken directly from the websites cited in
each source note. Quotation marks are not used.
Source: Reuters
Apr 12, 2010
Egyptian archaeologists carrying out excavations at the site of a planned youth center have found 14 tombs dating back to the third century BC, including one with a female mummy adorned with jewelry.
The Greco-Roman tombs, in Bahariya Oasis, 300 km (190 miles) southwest of Cairo, were discovered during probes that indicated they may be part of a much larger necropolis, Egypt's Culture Ministry said in a statement Monday.
A 97-cm (38-inch) tall female mummy, found in the
Source: AP
Apr 12, 2010
Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour drew criticism for proclaiming April as Confederate Heritage Month without mentioning slavery, the second governor this month to come under fire for the omission.
Rep. Robert Johnson, D-Natchez, who is black, said Monday that people need to learn about the "abhorrent, violent, depraved actions of slavery."
Virginia's Republican governor, Bob McDonnell, also named April as Confederate History Month but his original proclamation di
Source: National Parks Traveler
Apr 12, 2010
Manzanar National Historic Site will host the 41st annual Manzanar Pilgrimage on April 24. The pilgrimage, organized by the Los Angeles-based Manzanar Committee, includes weekend activities designed to commemorate the unjust World War II internment of 110,000 Japanese-Americans in ten war relocation camps.
The camps were in remote areas spread among seven states including Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Idaho, Utah, and Wyoming. Manzanar NHS is located in an isolated area o
Source: Telegraph (UK)
Apr 12, 2010
Social workers have been accused of behaving like the authorities of "Stalin's Russia or Mao's China" by a judge over moves to permanently remove young children from their mothers.
Lord Justice Wall said the failure of social workers in the London borough of Greenwich to support a mother trying to make changes to her life and get back her two children, who are in care, was ''quite shocking''.
The judge said what occurred would do little to dispel the perceptio
Source: Telegraph (UK)
Apr 12, 2010
The son of late dictator Idi Amin has been charged with attacking a man hours before he was due to be deported from Britain.
Faisal Wangita, 28, is accused of being one of eight men who beat another deportee at an immigration centre.
The 23-year-old victim, from South America, suffered multiple injuries in the attack at the Colnbrook Detention Centre, near Heathrow Airport.
Unemployed Wangita, of north London, travelled to England from Uganda with his mothe
Source: BBC
Apr 11, 2010
Irish Polar explorer Tom Crean has been commemorated with a Greenland mountain bearing his name.
The 700 metre peak was named last week by a group of Irish mountaineers on a charity expedition.
The climbers hope to present a picture of Mount Crean, in eastern Greenland, to relatives of the late explorer.
Crean is known for his service with two of the most celebrated heroes of the age of empire and exploration, Robert Falcon Scott and Sir Ernest Shackleton.
Source: AP
Apr 11, 2010
The leader of Poland's government in exile while the nation was under Soviet-backed rule. The shipyard worker whose firing helped ignite the labor uprising that ultimately toppled communism here. A banking head who helped keep the country stable while the rest of the European Union plunged into recession.
When Poland lost its president and top military brass Saturday in a plane crash that killed 96, it also lost much of its living history and other elite members of society.
Source: NPR
Apr 11, 2010
As states across the country scramble to close budget gaps, many are targeting state parks. Arizona is the first to go through with it. In February, the state closed five of its 30 parks, and a number of them contain fragile archaeological sites. Now residents are taking steps to prevent looting.
Susan Secakuku, a former archaeologist at Homolovi and a member of the Hopi tribe, says it's hard to believe visitors are no longer allowed to see this stunning view from inside the park.
Source: The Guardian
Apr 11, 2010
Ministers have been condemned for forcing through the sale of up to 1,000 antiquities allegedly stolen from Italy, in order to pay the debts of a bankrupt private collector.
The Home Office has sparked outrage by allowing Roman bronzes, Etruscan gold and other treasures to be placed on the market by liquidators acting for the government in an attempt to recover unpaid taxes from the former owner, Robin Symes, a dealer with alleged links to the smuggling trade and a UK prison record.
Source: Telegraph (UK)
Apr 11, 2010
At the height of their fame The Beatles enraged the Roman Catholic Church by famously declaring they were bigger than Jesus.
Their enthusiastic pursuit of the sex, drugs and rock and roll lifestyle also did little to convince the Vatican they were anything other than a thoroughly bad influence.
But now in a move sanctioned by Pope Benedict XVI, the Catholic Church has offered the Fab Four its official seal of approval, forgiving them their various excesses and even la
Source: Telegraph (UK)
Apr 11, 2010
The far-Right has taken more parliamentary seats in Hungary’s national elections than at any time since the Second World War.
Fidesz, Hungary's centre-Right party, won 52.77 per cent of the vote, based on 99 per cent of votes counted, in a blow to the Socialist government.
Jobbik, a far-Right party, gained entry into parliament for the first time after winning 16.71 per cent of votes, behind the ruling Socialists who took 19.29 per cent.
Hungary's largest J
Source: Deutsche Welle (Germany)
Apr 11, 2010
Survivors and others commemorated the 65th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi-run Buchenwald concentration camp on Sunday. The names of thousands of people who died there have now been published online.
Survivors of the Nazi concentration camp Buchenwald gathered with dignitaries and US Army veterans to commemorate the 65th anniversary of the liberation of one of the largest Nazi concentration camps on German soil.
From 1937-1945, about 250,000 people were impris
Source: Telegraph (UK)
Apr 11, 2010
The far-Right is poised to take parliamentary seats for the first time since the Second World War, in Hungary's national elections.
Fidesz, Hungary's centre-right party, is expected to sweep out the unpopular Socialist government and Jobbik, a far-right party is predicted to take second place after Sunday's elections.
Hungary's largest Jewish organisation warned that the vote was "the first occasion that a movement pursuing openly anti-Semitic policies" has
Source: Telegraph (UK)
Apr 11, 2010
Henry Kissinger cancelled a warning against carrying out international political assassinations just days before a former Chilean ambassador was killed in Washington, according to a newly released State Department cable.
The declassified document revived questions about Mr Kissinger's role in curbing the secret programme of international assassinations by South American dictators known as Operation Condor.
According to the National Security Archive, a research organisa
Source: Telegraph (UK)
Apr 11, 2010
The people of Sudan began voting on Sunday in a controversial election that will decide whether President Omar al-Bashir wins another term despite his indictment on charges he committed international war crimes in Darfur.
But voters were left with few alternatives after Mr Bashir's main challengers boycotted the race, citing widespread fraud before the voting even began.
The elections, which run through Tuesday, are supposed to be an essential step in a 2005 peace pla
Source: Fox News
Apr 11, 2010
Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour on Sunday defended fellow Gov. Bob McDonnell for his decision to declare April "Confederate History Month" in Virginia without initially acknowledging the legacy of slavery, saying the controversy "doesn't amount to diddly."
The Virginia governor took heat for his declaration from a slew of top officials, including President Obama and former Virginia Gov. L. Douglas Wilder -- the first black elected governor and a grandson of slave
Source: CNN
Apr 11, 2010
The body of Polish President Lech Kaczynski, who was killed in a plane crash in Russia over the weekend, returned to tributes in his homeland Sunday afternoon.
Soldiers in perfect step carried the casket from the plane that transported onto the tarmac, where mourners were waiting. Catholic priests recited prayers at the military airport before Kaczynski's daughter and twin brother, followed by others, took turns kneeling before the flag-draped casket.
People lined up al
Source: CNN
Apr 11, 2010
The shroud of Turin, which some Christians believe is Jesus Christ's burial cloth, went on public display Saturday for the first time since it was restored in 2002.
About two million people -- including Pope Benedict XVI -- are expected to view the shroud while it's on view at the Turin Cathedral for the next six weeks.
The shroud, which bears the image of a face that some Christians say is Jesus', was restored eight years ago to remove a patchwork repair done by 16th-c
Source: BBC
Apr 10, 2010
The dungeon believed to have housed Robin Hood when he was caught by the Sheriff of Nottingham is to be surveyed using a laser.
It is part of a major project to explore every cave in Nottingham.
Robin Hood is believed to have been held captive in an oubliette (underground dungeon) located at what is now the Galleries of Justice.
The Nottingham Caves Survey is being conducted by archaeologists based at the University of Nottingham.
Source: Telegraph (UK)
Apr 10, 2010
History books first published in the 1930s have been revived in a bid to tackle schoolchildren's ignorance of Britain's past.
The series, called A History of Britain, was first published in 1937 and was widely used in schools for decades.
It has now been updated and relaunched for a modern audience amid growing concerns that schools are failing to give children a good grasp of history.
It comes as a group of leading history experts called for reform to th
